RESUMEN
Background/Study Context: Theory of Mind (ToM) reflects the ability to reason about mental states in order to understand and predict behavior. Research has identified links between increased pulse pressure, a measure of vascular health, and reduced cognitive ToM in older adults. However, the relationships between other vascular and nonvascular conditions and reduced ToM are unknown. We examined (1) illnesses as predictors of cognitive and affective ToM and (2) neurocognitive mediators of illness burden and ToM. METHODS: We used hierarchical regression and mediation to investigate the effects of vascular illness burden (hypertension, Type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, and high pulse pressure) and nonvascular illness burden (osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and thyroid dysfunction) on cognitive and affective ToM in N = 86 community-dwelling older adults (59 females; 27 males, M age = 71.74 years). RESULTS: Vascular illness burden emerged as a significant predictor of older adults' cognitive ToM (R2 = .43, p < .001), and this relationship was mediated by executive functioning. Nonvascular illness burden did not predict cognitive nor affective ToM in this sample. CONCLUSION: Our findings highlight the specific importance of considering vascular health as a risk factor for declines in ToM in later life. Further elucidation of the associations between health, neurocognition, and ToM will be valuable in developing effective interventions for older adults given the high prevalence of vascular illness in later life.
Asunto(s)
Cognición/fisiología , Costo de Enfermedad , Función Ejecutiva/fisiología , Teoría de la Mente , Anciano , Artritis Reumatoide/fisiopatología , Artritis Reumatoide/psicología , Enfermedades Cardiovasculares/fisiopatología , Enfermedades Cardiovasculares/psicología , Diabetes Mellitus Tipo 2/fisiopatología , Diabetes Mellitus Tipo 2/psicología , Femenino , Humanos , Masculino , Osteoartritis/fisiopatología , Osteoartritis/psicología , Osteoporosis/fisiopatología , Osteoporosis/psicología , Enfermedades de la Tiroides/fisiopatología , Enfermedades de la Tiroides/psicologíaRESUMEN
We examined the relations between perceived health (e.g., self-perceived health status) and driving self-regulatory practices (e.g., frequency of driving, avoiding challenging driving situations) as mediated by driving attitudes and perceptions (i.e., driving comfort, positive and negative attitudes towards driving) in data collected for 928 drivers aged 70 and older enrolled in the Candrive II study. We observed that specific attitudes towards driving (e.g., driving comfort, negative attitudes towards driving) mediate the relations between health symptoms and self-regulatory driving behaviours at baseline and over time. Only negative attitudes towards driving fully mediated the relationships between changes in perceived health symptoms and changes in driving behavior. Perceived health symptoms apparently influence the likelihood of avoiding challenging driving situations through both initial negative attitudes towards driving as well as changes in negative attitudes over time. Understanding influences on self-regulatory driving behaviours will be of benefit when designing interventions to enhance the safety of older drivers.